Interrogation! Review by a Cast Member!

Nathir Haimoun wrote a lovely review of the play, Interrogation تحقيق in both Arabic and English .. I am thrilled .. that is the first time in my life to experience this .. tons of emotions .. but I am happy to share what Nathir wrote .. in appreciation .. admiration .. and with love ..

I never knew I have a delicate and sensitive wordsmith in my play’s cast .. beside the multi-talent exhibited by every member of the team .. thanks to and for a wonderful squad.

The skilled artists presented by Kawalease ACT, came at a time the Arabic community was looked upon as only capable of producing anything but art!

The Arab Canadian Theatre is adding to what the Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society started more than a decade ago .. as the Calgary Arab Film Festival is approaching its 11th copy, October 20-22, this seems like a breakthrough for Arab artists in Canada’s cowtown ..

Here’s what Nathir wrote (English text follows):

تحقيق هي ليست مجرد مسرحية بل هي قصة من روح الواقع العربي و المصري في بلاد المهجر. هو تحقيق ليس فقط مع الضباط و العسكر بس هو تحقيق مع الذات و القلب و قصة العمر منذ سنوات و سنوات.

آدم بطل القصة يحمل الكثير من المشاعر و الألم من جرح الوطن لجرح المحبوبة, و بين وجع القلب و وجع الوطن سكن فؤاد آدم في كالجري ليرفض في آخر المطاف الحب و الحسناوات و يمضي مبستما ماضيا في الحياة. لكن قلبه المحروق على حسناء لم تفي بالوعود و وطنه الباكي دفعه ليخلد ذكرى القصة في مسرحية أسماها تحقيق. في اللحظات الأولى إنتابني حزن على آدم و تعاطف مع المشاعر التي مر بها في كل لحظة من لحظات القصة التي تحمل في طياتها بقايا الألم و الصدمة. هي حكاية ظهرت ندباتها من خلال المشاعر التي تشعر بها و أنت حاضر في قاعات التدريب أو خلال التمثيل, فتارة تحس بنشوة الانتصار كضابط الجوازات و السلطة التي لديك في تلك اللحظات لكن سرعان ما يتسلل شعور الذنب لقلبك العذب تجاه ذلك المسكين حتى في لحظات التمثيل. و ينتابك رغبة جامحة في الاعتذار و سؤاله إن كان على ما يرام, بعد الصراخ و الإعتقال. ربما الضابط شاعر و شاعري لكن مشاعر الحب الأخوية تجاه الممثل تؤجج مشاعر الذنب.

لقطات و مشاعر تأخذ بعض الممثلين لدمشق و بيروت و القاهرة و غيرها حاملة مشاعر و ذكريات، حركات و سكنات، أقل ما يا يقال عنها بأنها ذكرى وجع الوطن.

قصة آدم هي قصة إنسان هجر الوطن بحثا عن حياة أفضل, لكن معترك الرحلة شاء له منحى آخر في منعطف الطريق. يحاول بطل القصة إيجاد ملاذ لقلبه التائه ليبني وطن في قلبها و ينسج الولاء الذي حرمه منه الواقع المرير. لكن قلبه لم يكن أقل قساوة من الضباط و العسكر فغدا بطل القصة غريبا غريبا ..

فاتن و هي جولييت القصة, ربما تكون بريئة لكنها ليست بطلة القصة لأنها اختارت مغادرة القصة لاحقا تاركة في قلب آدم حزن يحاكي كلام محمود درويش عندما علم أن حبيبته جزء من الجيش المعادي فقال:

( شعرت انّ وطني احتلّ مرّة اخرى)

في حالة آدم خيبته في فاتن هي ذاتها خسارة الوطن مرة أخرى. و في قصة فاتن و قلب آدم المكسور و كأنما فشلت الثورة مرة أخرى و عدنا بخيبات الأمل بلا وطن و بلا حبيبة. في هذه الللحظات يقول آدم في داخله:

لم يكن شيئا مهما لك يا فاتن

لكنه كان قلبي تصبحين على حب و رقي

اكتبوا لها تحياتي

لفاتنة أبت أن تكون بطلة القصة

لكن آدم خلد ذكرى القصة بقلم حر يروي وجع القلب و الوطن

Interrogation" is not just a play, but it is a story from the soul of Arab and Egyptian reality in foreign lands. It's an investigation not only with officers and the secret service, but also with oneself, the heart, and a life story spanning many years.

Adam, the protagonist, carries a lot of feelings and pain, from the wound of his homeland to the wound of his loved one. Between the pain of his heart and the pain of his homeland, Adam settled in Calgary, only to eventually reject love and beautiful ladies around, continuing to smile and move on in life. However, his heart, burned by his ex-girlfriend who didn't keep her promises, and his grieving of his homeland pushed him to immortalize the story in a play he named " Interrogation ".

From the first moments, I felt sorrow for Adam and sympathized with the feelings he experienced at every moment of the story, which carries remnants of pain and shock. It's a tale that showed its scars through the emotions you feel while present during the rehearsals as well as the acting itself. Sometimes you feel the euphoria of victory as an immigration officer and the power you have in those moments, but soon a feeling of guilt creeps into your pure heart towards that poor man, even during the scene. And you are faced with an overwhelming desire to apologize and ask him if he is okay, after shouting and arresting him. Maybe I might be romanticizing it, but the brotherly love towards the actor fuels feelings of guilt.

The general atmosphere gives some of the actors and actress flash backs to Damascus, Beirut, Cairo, and elsewhere, carrying feelings and memories, movements and pauses, which are, to say the least, reminders of the pain of the homeland.

Adam's story is the story of a man who migrated from his homeland in search of a better life, but the battleground of the journey is a bit muddier than someone could expect. The protagonist tries to find a sanctuary for his lost heart, to build a homeland within her and weave the loyalty that the bitter reality deprived him of. But her heart was no less harsh than the officers’, making the story's hero a stranger once again. Faten, the Juliet of the story, might be innocent, but she's not the heroine of the story because she chose to leave the story later, leaving sorrow in Adam's heart reminiscent of Mahmoud Darwish's words when he learned that his lover was part of the enemy army, saying:

"I felt that my homeland was occupied once again."

In Adam's case, his disappointment in Faten was akin to losing his homeland once again. In the story of Faten and Adam's broken heart, it's as if the revolution failed again, and we returned with disappointments, without a homeland or a lover. In these moments, Adham internally says:

"It wasn’t anything important to you, Faten, but it was my heart.

Wake up to love and grace.

Send her my greetings.

To Faten, who refused to be the heroine of the story.

But Adam immortalized the story with a free pen, narrating the pain of the heart and homeland."

Written September 2023